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Good day,Saw this 'home made vented' kite on the Australian ebay. I had a good laugh...Holes are not reinforced! I love the hole at the spine....It is amazing to see it get bids...Thanks st3307 for copying and enlarging the picture for me.,

I would imagine that reinforcing the holes with tedlar tape and then using a shaped tool heated from a soldering iron or hotknife ( we actually found a kit based on woodburning which gets hot but not soldering hot ) could be used to create venting in regularly non vented kites. Of course not something I would practice on a boutique kite.

It is an interesting idea. However I would def say the example above is a poor one indeed.

p.s. I believe I saw the shaped tool technique on some kite building blog... maybe it was Ian Newham's (sp?) ?

I seem to recall someone from here venting his Quantum. Never saw how that project turned out...I would think a soldering iron would be the best way to vent a non-vented kite ?

Oh Oh I know this!!...I've just vented an HQ Jive and without bragging it's come out really well.

Ok, First you need to completely strip the kite of all spars and fittings. Lay the sail down and make a template of one half of the kite sail in the area you're going to vent on something transparent clearly marking the leading edge and the spine - I used 4 sheets of A4 transparency paper taped together.

Tape this to your sail. Next cut out some 2" paper circles (I used 6) and place them on the template until you are happy with the position and then glue them in place on the template.

Next get hold of some sail repair tape – I used 70mm ( 2 3/4”) and cut out 2 x 2” circle’s of tape for each paper circle you’ve used on the template.

Next get a bright light source – I used a crafters ‘light box’ borrowed from my wife – and shine the light through the sail from the front (template side) so that the paper circles show through on the back as dark circles. Carefully put 1 circle of repair tape over each shadow on the back of the kite then take the template off and shine the light from the back of the kite and stick a further piece of tape on the front of the sail exactly over the piece on the back. Now flip the template over and repeat for the other half of the sail. You should now have 3 layers – tape, sail, tape for each circle. This bit sounds much more complicated than it is - when you actually do it it’s obvious and easy. Let the repair tape cure overnight.

Next get a soldering iron – I used a old 25W one and filed the old bit in it to a knife edge. Get a piece of steel sheet ( or I’m told glass works too) and a 1 ½” steel washer.

Put the circles of tape on the sheet one at a time nice and flat (use weights to hold the sail in place). Place the washer in the middle of each circle and with the hot iron cut around the washer – make sure you go through all 3 layers but don’t let the iron stay in one place to long. When you’ve gone all the way round lift off the washer and it should come away with a circle of tape and sail stuck to it and you should have a neat hole in your sail. Repeat this for each hole. I haven’t sewn around the holes as they seem fine without – the iron seals all 3 layers together.

When you have done re-assemble your kite and wait for some windy weather! You might want to upgrade your LE’s , I used one piece 6mm.

Please note you do this entirely at your own risk and I can’t guarantee the results but mine worked fine. Don’t do it on any kite you particularly value!!

It’s all easier than it sounds. I’ll try and post a photo of the finished kite later.

I have seen the European kitemakers vent their kites on purpose as much as needed with their handy rollup handing out of their mouth (a cig for those confused)....just touch the skin in all of the places you want....works on single lines as well as sport kites...

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